State abuse law passed after Penn State applies in Frazier case

Published: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 9:50 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 9:50 p.m.

In the wake of the Penn State scandal involving football coach Jerry Sandusky, Florida passed the strictest law in the nation for failing to report child abuse.

Facts

THE SPECIFICS

Florida’s law requiring mandatory reporting of suspected child sex abuse on schools and universities, considered one of the toughest such laws in the nation, went into effect Oct. 1. Here are some of its provisions.• Everyone in Florida is a mandated reporter but some people are professionally mandated reporters. For example, social workers, medical and mental health professionals, teachers and other school officials must give their names and occupation or place of business when calling. • Child abuse by parents, caregivers, any other adults and juvenile sex offenders should be reported to DCF’s statewide hotline.• Failure to report child abuse to DCF is now a third degree felony (previously this was a first degree misdemeanor).• College and university law enforcement and administrators are required to report known or suspected child abuse occurring on campuses or at events sponsored by their institution. Failure to report may subject the institution to a fine.• Reports of child abuse should be made to the Florida Department of Children and Families statewide hotline (1-800-96-ABUSE) or through the DCF website.

– SOURCE: Florida Council Against Sexual Violence

Any person — including school officials and employees — who fails to report suspected abuse to a state hotline faces third-degree felony charges, which carry a possible five-year prison sentence and fines up to $5,000.

Before the new law took effect on Oct. 1, reporting was only mandated when the suspected abuser was a parent or caretaker, and the charge for not reporting was a misdemeanor.

“It's a very good law,” said Stephen Pennypacker, deputy director of children's legal services for the Florida Department of Children and Families. “And if it stops one Jerry Sandusky it's a great law.”

The law is called the “Protection of Vulnerable Persons Act,” but not everyone agrees it does enough to prevent abuse or delves into the problem at its core.

In addition, experts say, the failure-to-report law may be difficult to prosecute and at least one published report backs that up.

“It's a very ill-conceived law and it doesn't take any practical steps to address the problem,” said Kate Bohl, a law professor at Stetson University who teaches a course on “Children and the Law.”

“We are looking at people accusingly but not going to the heart of the problem, and that's educating people as to what the signs are,” Bohl said.

This week, the Bradenton Police Department recommended to the state attorney's office that five Manatee County School District employees face a total of 17 criminal charges, including failure to report child abuse, in the case of Manatee High assistant football coach Rod Frazier case.

Frazier is alleged to have inappropriately touched a female student, sent her text messages, told her he loved her and asked for a naked photograph.

Bradenton Police recommended that Frazier, Assistant Superintendent Bob Gagnon, former district investigator Debra Horne and two other district employees face charges that include battery, lying to police and failure to report abuse.

The distribution of those charges is not known and the Herald-Tribune has not been able to identify the other two employees.

“We have a law that attempts to prosecute after harm has been done, which helps very little,” Bohl said. “It's a response to political pressure and it does little in reality.”

Battery is a misdemeanor and can result in one year in prison.

“How ironic that the coach” accused of the abuse “would face a misdemeanor and the people who failed to report it would face a felony,” said Derek Byrd, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The primary architect behind the new law is South Florida resident Lauren Book, who said she was abused as a child by her nanny for six years. She is the founder of an advocacy group called “Lauren's Kids” and travels the state speaking out against abuse.

“The law is very clear, if you suspect it, you report it — period,” Book said. “I don't care if it is a principal, or who it is, if you didn't report it, or you knew or had reason to believe and you didn't report it, you are subjected to that third-degree felony.”

The state attorney's office will now decide whether to file charges, and that could take a few weeks.

Prosecuting someone for failure to report can be quite difficult, says Bohl, the Stetson professor, and others agree.

“It is very hard to prosecute because unless you have iron-clad evidence,” Bohl said. “The person is well within his right to say, ‘I didn't have enough information to report.' ”

Said Pennypacker: “It isn't the easiest thing to prosecute. It's not like a DUI where you have someone stumbling down, but it's certainly prosecutable.”

In 2011, at the height of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal at Penn State, USA Today reviewed 222 cases of non-reporting across the country, and only 102 people were convicted.

In nearly all of the states that could provide records, the newspaper found that prosecutors typically charged only one or two people a year.

“You'd likely have the proverbial ‘he said-she said' case,” Byrd said. “That would be a tough case for the state to prove because, in general, what would the motive be for the officials not to report?

“The standard to have someone arrested is just probable cause. The state attorney has a higher standard because they would have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On Nov. 15, Frazier was put on paid leave pending the outcome of a district investigation, and Horne interviewed six school employees at Manatee High that day.

She was provided information about a girl seen by a teacher sitting in Frazier's lap inside his office at school, the Herald-Tribune has reported.

Another teacher said she saw text messages from Frazier to the girl.

In addition, Horne was given the names of four girls who may have had information about possible inappropriate behavior but never interviewed them, or any of their parents.

No one called police or the state hotline, DCF officials have said.

On Nov. 16, Frazier returned to Manatee High to coach in a football playoff game.

On Jan. 9, a student's mother delivered a letter to Manatee principal Don Sauer alleging that Frazier groped the student and asked her to meet him in a park several times, among other things.

“That would be hard to get around,” Byrd said of the letter. “I don't know how you would get around not reporting abuse in that matter.”

It was not until a story in the Herald-Tribune on Feb. 7 detailing the letter that the Bradenton police were made aware of the district's investigation and got involved.

Jennifer Dritt, executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, said it is not altogether unusual for school employees across the country to not report suspected abuse.

“One reason could be not wanting to ruin a school's reputation,” Dritt said, “or it could be because sometimes you're dealing with a successful athletic coach and you want the situation to stop or you don't think it's that serious.

“But when people are charged it's a reminder that this is serious business.”

<p>In the wake of the Penn State scandal involving football coach Jerry Sandusky, Florida passed the strictest law in the nation for failing to report child abuse.</p><p>Any person — including school officials and employees — who fails to report suspected abuse to a state hotline faces third-degree felony charges, which carry a possible five-year prison sentence and fines up to $5,000.</p><p>Before the new law took effect on Oct. 1, reporting was only mandated when the suspected abuser was a parent or caretaker, and the charge for not reporting was a misdemeanor.</p><p>“It's a very good law,” said Stephen Pennypacker, deputy director of children's legal services for the Florida Department of Children and Families. “And if it stops one Jerry Sandusky it's a great law.”</p><p>The law is called the “Protection of Vulnerable Persons Act,” but not everyone agrees it does enough to prevent abuse or delves into the problem at its core.</p><p>In addition, experts say, the failure-to-report law may be difficult to prosecute and at least one published report backs that up. </p><p>“It's a very ill-conceived law and it doesn't take any practical steps to address the problem,” said Kate Bohl, a law professor at Stetson University who teaches a course on “Children and the Law.”</p><p>“We are looking at people accusingly but not going to the heart of the problem, and that's educating people as to what the signs are,” Bohl said.</p><p>This week, the Bradenton Police Department recommended to the state attorney's office that five Manatee County School District employees face a total of 17 criminal charges, including failure to report child abuse, in the case of Manatee High assistant football coach Rod Frazier case. </p><p>Frazier is alleged to have inappropriately touched a female student, sent her text messages, told her he loved her and asked for a naked photograph. </p><p>Bradenton Police recommended that Frazier, Assistant Superintendent Bob Gagnon, former district investigator Debra Horne and two other district employees face charges that include battery, lying to police and failure to report abuse.</p><p>The distribution of those charges is not known and the Herald-Tribune has not been able to identify the other two employees.</p><p>“We have a law that attempts to prosecute after harm has been done, which helps very little,” Bohl said. “It's a response to political pressure and it does little in reality.”</p><p>Battery is a misdemeanor and can result in one year in prison.</p><p>“How ironic that the coach” accused of the abuse “would face a misdemeanor and the people who failed to report it would face a felony,” said Derek Byrd, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.</p><p>The primary architect behind the new law is South Florida resident Lauren Book, who said she was abused as a child by her nanny for six years. She is the founder of an advocacy group called “Lauren's Kids” and travels the state speaking out against abuse.</p><p>“The law is very clear, if you suspect it, you report it — period,” Book said. “I don't care if it is a principal, or who it is, if you didn't report it, or you knew or had reason to believe and you didn't report it, you are subjected to that third-degree felony.”</p><p>Bradenton police spent nearly two months investigating Frazier, and interviewed more than 50 students, teachers, employees and administrators.</p><p>The state attorney's office will now decide whether to file charges, and that could take a few weeks.</p><p>Prosecuting someone for failure to report can be quite difficult, says Bohl, the Stetson professor, and others agree.</p><p>“It is very hard to prosecute because unless you have iron-clad evidence,” Bohl said. “The person is well within his right to say, 'I didn't have enough information to report.' ”</p><p>Said Pennypacker: “It isn't the easiest thing to prosecute. It's not like a DUI where you have someone stumbling down, but it's certainly prosecutable.”</p><p>In 2011, at the height of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal at Penn State, USA Today reviewed 222 cases of non-reporting across the country, and only 102 people were convicted.</p><p>In nearly all of the states that could provide records, the newspaper found that prosecutors typically charged only one or two people a year.</p><p>“You'd likely have the proverbial 'he said-she said' case,” Byrd said. “That would be a tough case for the state to prove because, in general, what would the motive be for the officials not to report?</p><p>“The standard to have someone arrested is just probable cause. The state attorney has a higher standard because they would have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”</p><p>On Nov. 15, Frazier was put on paid leave pending the outcome of a district investigation, and Horne interviewed six school employees at Manatee High that day.</p><p>She was provided information about a girl seen by a teacher sitting in Frazier's lap inside his office at school, the Herald-Tribune has reported.</p><p>Another teacher said she saw text messages from Frazier to the girl.</p><p>In addition, Horne was given the names of four girls who may have had information about possible inappropriate behavior but never interviewed them, or any of their parents.</p><p>No one called police or the state hotline, DCF officials have said.</p><p>On Nov. 16, Frazier returned to Manatee High to coach in a football playoff game.</p><p>On Jan. 9, a student's mother delivered a letter to Manatee principal Don Sauer alleging that Frazier groped the student and asked her to meet him in a park several times, among other things.</p><p>“That would be hard to get around,” Byrd said of the letter. “I don't know how you would get around not reporting abuse in that matter.”</p><p>It was not until a story in the Herald-Tribune on Feb. 7 detailing the letter that the Bradenton police were made aware of the district's investigation and got involved.</p><p>Jennifer Dritt, executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, said it is not altogether unusual for school employees across the country to not report suspected abuse.</p><p>“One reason could be not wanting to ruin a school's reputation,” Dritt said, “or it could be because sometimes you're dealing with a successful athletic coach and you want the situation to stop or you don't think it's that serious.</p><p>“But when people are charged it's a reminder that this is serious business.”</p><p><I>Staff writer Katy Bergen contributed to this story.</i></p>